After months of preparation our light show is ready for tonight and we are close to having our home open. This year has been much more difficult than past years because Michelle is also working full-time on Skado and I have extra duties as Mayor of Laguna Hills.

We are blessed to live in a neighborhood that loves to decorate. http://www.nelliegailranch.org/Gallery/15648~9132. In fact, Nellie Gail has a long history of decorating. For many years the second tallest Christmas Tree in the United States adorned one of our neighbor’s driveways. It attracted visitors from all over the world who enjoyed its owner’s selfless contribution whose only motivation was to bring a smile to peoples' faces.

The purpose of our Christmas Lights (Holiday really, we even have a Jewish section) is no different. For so many people Christmas is not a time of happiness. There are broken families, illnesses and financial struggles all tied up into a time that is intended to bring joy.

While Michelle and I have hundreds of stories, one that sticks out in my mind is that of a kind lady who lives a block from us. Let’s call her Amy. By all visible accounts Amy has the dream life. He and her husband are blessed with extraordinary intelligence and tenacity, thus enjoying great careers. They live near us in Nellie Gail (and the city of Laguna Hills is the best place to live in all of the world!!) They have a beautiful, close, multi-generational family, with gorgeous children. While there is no question that Amy has worked for it, she and her husband seem to "have it all". Last year, Amy was in front of our home enjoying our lights. I struck up a conversation with her while offering her some warm apple cider and mentioned that I remembered seeing her many days the year before. Amy confirmed that she and her family were indeed at our home nearly every evening the prior December (they live within walking distance). Then, the sweet story turned sour. A few months before Christmas of 2012, Amy contracted a terrible form of cancer. One with only a 20% chance of survival. During the holidays she was under-going chemotherapy and it was making her extraordinarily sick. Amy worried about being taken from her family and wanted to spend as much time as possible with her husband and kids. Unfortunately, she didn't have the energy to go to Disneyland, or the Boat Parade or any of the traditional popular Orange County attractions. Amy also was burdened with the heavy weight of her sickness worsening throughout the evening and thus she needed to be close to home in order to quickly get rest. So, each night, Amy brought her family here. At our home, there was no cost or condition. She could show up and leave when she pleased and was under no pressure to do anything. He kids were thrilled with something fun to do and she enjoyed the coveted time with her family in case the drastic measures her doctors were taking to save her life didn't have the desired result. By evidence of me telling this story, it has a happy ending. Amy and her family were here the next year to relay to me the contribution the joy of our lights and decorations made to her health, to her family and to the community. She told me of the hope they brought to her. Amy is why we start in August each year decorating. There are hundreds of stories like Amy’s. We have even had multiple marriage proposals in front of our home and have met the little blessings that came each wedding.

To say that we have the most lights, or the best show of anyone in Nellie Gail would be disingenuous. Our neighborhood tends to decorate. The Gingerbread house, right down the street from us, is far better than ours. The owner’s son Brett, who has transformed from the kid who cheerfully strung lights on his folk’s house, into a famous lighting artist (with credits like Disneyland and Universal Studios) and now into famous movie producer, ensures that their home turns into a shining gingerbread palace each year. So, while we are far from the best home in Nellie Gail, we do love decorating and seeing the smiles, and hope, that it brings to our neighbors.

As I have learned being Mayor of Laguna Hills, with each good thing, there is often something of concern. While no one has ever come up to me and talked about it, I remain conscious of traffic generated by Nellie Gail's bent towards celebrating the holidays by lighting our homes. While I don’t consider this a negative because I know of a new home owner who discovered our fantastic neighborhood by coming here to see Christmas Lights, then subsequently purchasing a home and increasing our housing values, I am always struggling with how to ensure that our neighborhoods enjoyment doesn't cause anyone extra difficulty. Thus, this year, Michelle and I are changing the start time of our light show from 5pm to 6pm. Home tours will start at about 6:15pm. While I don't believe that this will actually reduce any holiday traffic, as there are so many homes that people come to enjoy, perhaps it will start a trend of other generous decorators to do the same. The downside of this is that many families come by before they head out to dinner, or are here at 5pm because they have little kids with early bed times. To the families who will miss our show due to this change, I am sorry. Nellie Gail had plenty of holiday traffic before we started decorating and will continue to have even more holiday traffic after us. Regardless, this is the trade-off that we are making this year. So, if you are wanting to enjoy our lights please come after 6pm.

Last years’ Orange Coast Magazine summed up what we do in a very kind way http://www.orangecoast.com/essays/rituals-100000-guests-for-cider/. In addition to providing smiles our Light Show collects over 2,000 toys each year for the Firefighter’s Spark of Love Toy Drive. Throughout December, the Orange County Fire Department brings a fire engine down our road, when the lights are one, to collect baskets and baskets of toys that have been generously donated by you. We live on a very wide road which can support multiple lanes of traffic, even huge fire trucks.

Unfortunately, for the very first time in six year, we are hearing rumors that there are a couple of anonymous folks who are not happy with our efforts for whatever reason. We decorate entirely out of our own pocket during this season of love and giving (as do so many of our neighbors) asking nothing in return other than people consider a toy donation to help kids who have had a tough year. Seeing the smiles of wonder from kids and adults alike warms our hearts more than I can express and makes our family’s Christmas.

In this vain, Michelle, Faith, Ethan and I need your help. If you love our show, please let us know. Please write us an email to ablount@happyfatguy.com or, better yet, send us a letter to 25473 Nellie Gail Road, Laguna Hills, CA 92653. Please tell us your story and what our lights, and those in our neighborhood, have meant to your family. While we are certainly no "boat parade", what our neighbors do here is special and worthy of recognition. The more letters the better. If you have come by in prior years or intend to this year, please send us some Christmas cheer.

Michael Moloney and Sabrina Soto from the TV Show “Extreme Makeover” are the judges.

“The Great Christmas Light Fight” is a unique show where twenty familes from many different states compete with their outside Christmas Decorations. On Monday the 9th, the show will run for 1 hour, then for 2 hours the next two Mondays. Michael Moloney and Sabrina Soto each will judge ten of the homes.

The Great Christmas Lights Fight is the first reality show of its kind. Each week four familes compete by transforming the outside of their homes into a winter wonderland! Each family has different styles and different reasons for decorating. Some include incredibly elaborate Christmas light displays, incredible musical choreography and over-the-top designs.

The Great Christmas Light Fight is produced by Fremantle Media North America (with credits such as “American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent”). Executive Producers for the show are Brady Connell, Jennifer Mullin, Max Swedlow and Thom Beers.

This is a not to miss event that will bring a holidy smile to everyone who watches (and a laugh or two)!

The Great Christmas Light Fight show starts at at 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 9 with four families competing for the best Christmas Lights.

The homes where chosen based on the families tradition of decorating. A nationwide search was conducted for over two years to select the familes to be on the all new Christmas Light Show!

We will be on the show's premiere on December 9th on ABC – Broadcast Nationally

Be sure to watch Great Christmas Light Fight

While many cable stations have covered Christmas Lights, this is the first time that a national station has created such a show. With "Watching Christmas Lights" being such an important national passtime, the show should be huge! Often times when you go to see Christmas Lights, while you see all of the handy work that went into the display, you don't know that family that put it up. As a requirement for the show each family had to put up their own lights and couldn't hire a professional lighting contractor do create the attraction. The Great Christmas Light Fight is even making its way into IMDB.

You never know, your favoriate display might be on this show! You're not going to want to miss The Great Christmas Light Fight!

Our 2013 decorations are in the works. The show launches on Thanksgiving Night and runs Tuesday’s – Sunday’s until Christmas Night, including Christmas Eve. Hours are from 5pm – 9pm. Come by for some warm apple cider and holiday cheer!

Ho! Ho! Ho! This year's 2013 Christmas Lights Show will feature 212 channels of dancing LED lights choreographed to 12 songs plus 11,100 RGB lights on our giant wall covering our home. More than 120,000 glimmering lights adorn our festive light display. The three large trees in front of our home are each decorated with over 3 miles of lights on each, and the largest tree is wrapped in an amazing 4 1/2 miles of lights. You can even send a fun holiday text message to our guests that will appear on both in this website and on a 6 foot LED screen right in front of our light show. All of our Christmas Lights come from Costco. They are 100% LED lights that use far less energy than standard light bulbs. In fact we use only about $125 of energy total for the duration of our show.

We invite you to join us each night not only for the outdoor light show, but welcome guests into our home to view a Christmas Village Wonderland! Michelle spent hundreds of hours hand sculpting the giant snowy mountains of the Christmas towns. She begins preparing the displays in August and works to keep every elf dancing and every light twinkling in each village through to the end of the holiday season. The largest village is the North Pole featuring over 100 animated Department 56 houses, towering snow peaks, and even a waterfall. There is also a classic Bavarian style Christmas village also feature Department 56 house, a village dedicated to all things Disney, one for The Grinch, another featuring Charlie Brown, Rudolph and even a Christmas Carnival Boardwalk village. It is really a site to behold!

The tradition of Christmas Lights dates back to the middle of the 17th century in Germany. Over the next two centuries the magic of Christmas Lights spread through Eastern Europe then to the rest of the world. Candles were originally used, followed by lanterns and then on to electricity. In 1882 Edward Johnson lit a Christmas tree in New York City by creating the first string of electric Christmas Lights. In Just 20 years department stores began using Christmas Lights for their holiday displays.

Volunteer to Help

Spice up your Holiday Season by enjoy a very special evening volunteering to help at our Winter Wonderland. You can help tour people through our home or pass our warm apple cider. Please sign up at
Sign Up to Volunteer!

Orange County Register Article

The Orange County Register ran a terrific article about our Christmas Show. Take a look!